France’s Jean-Noel Thorel has won the EPT Barcelona €30,000 Super High roller Warm Up after defeating a field of 54 entries to collect a top prize of €512,370.
The ultra-laid back Frenchman is France’s most successful live tournament player of all time by a whopping $4.4 million from GGPoker ambassador Bertrand “ElkY” Grosspellier.
And he’s showing no signs of slowing down at 77 years of age.
Action Recap
The field was stacked with familiar faces from the high roller scene. Niklas Astedt was one, no doubt keen to resume his run of great form from this year, including a third place finish in the 2024 WSOP Main Event.
But it wasn’t to be, no money finish or final table for him and Sam Greenwood.
Teun Mulder and Nick Petrangelo did both make the final table but with only seven places paid they went home empty-handed.
Bulgaria’s Boris Angelov was first to fall after the money bubble burst, with Thorel drawing a straight to relieve him of his chips.
Poker legend Patrik Antonius also fell foul of Thorel’s hot run when he jammed his queens into the Frenchman’s kings.
American Justin Saliba was the next player to win a big pot, clashing with Estonian Ottomar Ladva.
Saliba raised with 9♣ 9♦ and Lavda jammed with A♦ Q♣ to leave his tournament life in the lap of the gods. Unfortunately for him no help was forthcoming and Saliba picked up a nice pot of 1.7M chips.
Four-handed, the action slowed down as it often does. Nothing more than an open raise or flop continuation bet.
Thorel had built a nice stack by now but his run to the finish line was far from smooth with Maher Nouira putting a huge dent in his ambitions.
Nouria raised with A♥ J♦ on the button and Thorel called with Q♠ 7♣.
The flop came down J♠ 5♣ 7♠ and Thorel checked. Nouria fired a small bet and Thorel raised to 550,000.
Nouria wasn’t having any of it and jammed the rest of his stacked in for 1.1M. The 4♣ 9♠ turn and river didn’t help and Thorel was down 2.1M chips.
Nouria then won two all-ins in a row against Brock Wilson to end his tournament, leaving only three players left in the event.
There was then three long hours before we reached the heads-up stage. An all-in confrontation with Nouria’s A♥ 7♣ against Thorel’s K♣ 10♠ saw the Tunisian out in third place for a prize of €228,700.
Thorel now had a substantial chip lead and the rail could see that it was likely to end only one way.
Saliba did win some small to medium pots, and even a double-up at one point, but Thorel stamped his authority on the EPT event with such force that it was all over in a few more hands.
EPT Barcelona €30,000 Super High Roller Warm-Up Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (EUR) |
| 1 | Jean-Noel Thorel | France | €512,370 |
| 2 | Justin Saliba | USA | €339,100 |
| 3 | Maher Nouira | Tunisia | €228,700 |
| 4 | Brock Wilson | USA | €173,500 |
| 5 | Ottomar Ladva | Estonia | €134,100 |
| 6 | Patrik Antonius | Finland | €106,500 |
| 7 | Boris Angelov | Bulgaria | €82,800 |
- Get the best rakeback deals
- See the best poker promotions
- View the latest poker news
- Get the best No Deposit Poker Bonuses
- Benefit from the biggest poker bonus
- Calculate your rakeback with the rakeback calculator
Terms and conditions apply. New customer offer and 18+ only. Should you require help regarding your betting pattern, please visit www.begambleaware.org.
